Both carer for the elderly and founder of the association Zootopia, the Toulousian Stéphanie Marchal does not hesitate to take kittens to her patients. And everyone is purring with pleasure.
Today, Polux is fidgeting in his stroller. This adorable kitten of a month and a half, with anthracite hair, was collected by Stéphanie Marchal, in the brambles, on a feeding area, in Toulouse. For the past two weeks, he has accompanied this life assistant on her trips to her clients.
This afternoon, Polux will be able to frolic in the apartment of Blanche, 90, where Stéphanie used to intervene, on behalf of the company “C’est bien chez nous”, several times a week for 8 month. “I have noticed that moving around with my kittens brings a lot of well-being and happiness to the elderly. Moreover, today, some are asking me for them, ”says Stéphanie Marchal.
Spotted by Baptiste Beaulieu
It is not Blanche who will say the opposite. Thanks to Stéphanie, the octogenarian has even adopted “a 16-year-old kitten”, Chipie, who keeps him company during his solitary puzzle games. “After my cat died, and at my age, I didn’t want it anymore. I agreed to take one because I knew that Stephanie could take it back at any time,” she explains.
Lover of animals, this 38-year-old Toulouse native lives only by and for them. A passion transmitted to him by his father, during his childhood in Seine-et-Marne. “He raised us with animals. He picked up some of the wounded on the sides of the road that were being treated. My father taught me that animals have more feelings than humans,” says Stephanie. She has since followed suit.
In 2021, she even decided to create the Zootopia protection association which collects, rehabilitates, cares for and offers animals for adoption. “Those who do not find families stay with me,” she says.
Stéphanie Marchal is delighted to have succeeded in combining her profession and her passion for animals. “When you have kittens to bottle, you can’t leave them all day at home. So, I decided to bring them with me. People immediately loved it. So, I continued with the animals that tolerate transport well,” summarizes Stéphanie. Living permanently with her animals is a luxury that the Toulousaine savors. “It’s my oxygen. When I’m on a break, between two clients, it allows me to play with them, to cuddle them. I am relaxing “.
His approach did not go unnoticed by the doctor writer and Toulouse columnist, Baptiste Beaulieu. The two met during a home visit to a patient. Seduced and moved, Baptiste Beaulieu made a post on Instagram which was very successful.
While part of her home help salary goes towards animal feed and vet costs, the Zootopia association allows her to collect a few donations “which help me a lot”, recognizes Stéphanie.
In “her little house, with garden”, located near the Cépière racecourse, Stéphanie now lives with her animals, in the middle of “18 cats, birds, dogs. All live in community. In the summer, she even takes care of orphaned baby hedgehogs, which she feeds and then releases.
A big family that the young Polux will have to leave soon since an adoptive family is already waiting for him. Nothing surprising with its chewable face!
The Zootopia association is on Facebook and Instagram. You can make donations during campaigns or offer yourself as a host family.